so you can throw me to the wolves

It was her first day back to work in almost a week. Her tangle with the venaraptor had left her with a long, thin scar that ranged from her shoulder to elbow; Danny had said it might fade over the next month or so, flattening out as the long-term magic he left in place continued to do its work. She felt fine, physically, but mentally, emotionally... She understood now why Alder woke screaming, why Olive left her light on all night. Because sometimes the scars in one's heart were far more terrifying than the ones on their body, and no matter what you did, sometimes you still couldn't escape them. Cypress hadn't tangled with that evil madman that had kidnapped and torture Alder, and scared and threatened Olive, and though she tried to remind herself that her experience paled in comparison to theirs...

Against her wishes her gaze went searching through the shadows of the puppy's playground, narrowed in on a patch of darkness that gleamed. Her new familiar stood still and silent as a statue, watching, waiting. Her presence in Cy's mind was alien and cold, familiar but frightening in the same breath. She never spoke, and hardly moved; her motions were slow, fluid, deliberate in every moment. She never strayed far from Cypress, but neither were they ever close. Always circling one another, on the edges of their senses, at the maximum limit their bond would permit. Cypress wondered if she did this deliberately, if she sensed the aching of Cy's heart and knew that she could never fill the hole Useless had left there, and thus kept her distance in an effort to give her time and space to heal. But was space and time what she really needed? Normally, after a loss, that's exactly what she craved, but now... now it was almost harder to feel this alien presence in her mind, this bond that connected her to a creature she didn't know and didn't trust. No one could ever replace Useless, not ever, but wouldn't it be better to know one another, even just a little?

As if sensing her thought, the creature on the far end of the paddock stepped slowly into the light. A dark snout and ram's horns, a long slim face that could have been canine or feline or a mix of both. Cypress held her breath, shivering a bit as their eyes met. And then light footsteps from behind her pulled her out of her reverie, the creature stepping back into shadow as Cy hurried to look busy. If the kennel master saw her relaxing, there'd be hell to pay, especially after such a long break. She peeked out of the corner of her eyes, found a young woman and a wolf rather than the gruff, horrid man she'd been expecting. Her head lifted, cocking her head to the side.

"Can I help you, lady?" she said at last, unconsciously lifting her hand to cover the bruises the kennel master had left on her arm most recently. She normally wore a light jacket year-round to hide them, but cleaning up the pen had made her overly warm and she'd discarded it a bit ago.

Cypress;